Rental agencies warned GM for years about defects, crashes, and airbag failures

posted at 4:01 pm on August 2, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

The Senate grilled GM executives again this week over the ignition-switch defects that have driven most of the 30 million recalls in 2014, by far the record for an automaker and a number that keeps growing. A FOIA search by Bloomberg News turned up even more evidence of early warnings about the defect that has been linked to dozens of deaths. Rental-car agencies kept alerting GM to the problem of power loss and stalling, but the automaker did nothing about it:

Customer-service call transcripts, warranty records, letters and police reports show Enterprise Holdings Inc. had pressed the largest U.S. automaker about a potential Cobalt defect because air bags failed in routine crashes. Avis Budget Group Inc. and Hertz Global Holdings Inc. also had Cobalts in their fleets that crashed.

“If there is a canary in the coal mine, it’s the rental car companies,” said Maryann Keller, an industry consultant who was a board member at Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. from 2000 to 2012. “They were the first users of the vehicles en masse.”

The files obtained are among scores exchanged between GM and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over an eight-year period beginning in 2005 related to cars stalling and air bags not deploying in crashes. In the files GM submitted, there were 30 crashes involving 37 fatalities in the Cobalt and the Saturn Ion. The victims’ names were redacted.

The documents add to the evidence that GM for at least a decade failed to promptly resolve mounting complaints from rental-car companies, consumers, automotive reviewers and even its own dealers and mechanics about abnormal crashes that have since been linked to a faulty ignition switch.

The files show many missed opportunities to ask questions and connect disparate events — the very type of evidence that is supposed to be routed to and vetted by the government’s Early Warning Reporting system for potential automotive defects.

This raises even more questions about the NHTSA and their lack of action on the defects. GM told NHTSA after complaints from Vanguard that they didn’t find enough evidence to warrant an investigation despite the death of the driver in that brand-new Cobalt, but the company did apparently forward these complaints from the rental agencies along to the NHTSA. As the Bloomberg report notes, the Early Warning System generates a lot of noise as automakers report every complaint, valid or not, to the safety board in order to allow for the recognition of patterns in the data. The complaints from rental agencies should have been a big red flag, though, as their business is in the maintenance and operation of large fleets, and can see patterns emerging for themselves.

What happened? The Senate would like to know that, too, especially since the federal government ended up as a majority owner of GM stock for a few years under the Bush and Obama administrations — and these defects came to light immediately after the Department of the Treasury had finished selling off its stock. In any other circumstances, a massive stock sell-off by a major investor just before wrongdoing is made public would raise serious suspicions about insider trading and stock fraud.

Bloomberg reports that the Inspector General at Treasury has become curious about the NHTSA’s failure, too:

NHTSA also has been under scrutiny for missing signs of the broader ignition-switch failures and passing on opening a formal defect investigation in 2007 and again in 2010. The U.S. Transportation Department’s inspector general, Calvin Scovel, is reviewing the agency’s actions. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said he asked for the review after questions raised by members of Congress, the public and the media.

That’s a good start. It seems less and less likely that the sell-off and the sudden NHTSA interest in GM’s defects afterward despite years of warnings from victims and rental agencies is a sheer coincidence.

This is your Grabberment Motor’s in action, just like your Grabberment, disregarding information that does not make them money or bring them power, regardless of the consequences of ignoring that information.

What is it about this dang wantedlifestyle.com popup that can’t be deleted.

On topic: During the Clinton Admin those doing some research found out that the NHTSA knew that airbags could kill babies and small stature, elderly adults. That was hidden from the public; at least by the MSM. I tried to get the leadership of the NHTSA charged with manslaughter for the resulting deaths of some 52 babies, but to no avail. I expect the same here.

I was just going to say, having just bought a late-model used car — a VW — several months ago. My previous car was a Toyota that lasted me 14 years.

You could not give me a GM car, and if I ever have to use a rental car again, I’ll avoid one place I went that rented only Chevys — Impalas and Malibus and the like. Hated driving them for the couple days I had to. They were awkward and annoying and I couldn’t wait to turn them back in.

Rental agencies warned GM for years about defects, crashes, and airbag failures

Ed,

With all due respect this headline glosses over the bigger problem. GM KNEW about these defects, crashes, and airbag failures for years and did nothing. GM didn’t take action. NHTSA is also at fault for inaction but the Ford Pinto scandal pales in comparison to GM’s indifference to producing a safe product.

And, of course, it was all profit driven. By the time of the government bailout, thousands of dollars for every unit produced went to an insanely generous pension system for the UAW.

The real question here is why the lies continued after the government became the owner of GM. I was living in Michigan at the time and the only real concern was the successful launch of GM’s street legal golf cart called the Chevy Volt. It was a big enough a deal that Jennifer Granholm’s official portrait includes a model of the Volt in the scenery.

WHY ARE ALL THESE DEFECTS ONLY COMING TO LIGHT AFTER THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DUMPED ITS STOCK IN GM AT A MASSIVE LOSS?

You could not give me a GM car, and if I ever have to use a rental car again, I’ll avoid one place I went that rented only Chevys — Impalas and Malibus and the like. Hated driving them for the couple days I had to. They were awkward and annoying and I couldn’t wait to turn them back in.

PatriotGal2257 on August 2, 2014 at 5:41 PM

My only positive comment about GM products is that they come with more cup holders than the number of passengers who could possibly fit in the car (outside clowns).

When I’ve had cause to rent a car, the GM products always fell far short when it comes to quality. GM trucks are another business sector and far more competitive.

You could not give me a GM car, and if I ever have to use a rental car again, I’ll avoid one place I went that rented only Chevys — Impalas and Malibus and the like. Hated driving them for the couple days I had to. They were awkward and annoying and I couldn’t wait to turn them back in.

PatriotGal2257 on August 2, 2014 at 5:41 PM

My only positive comment about GM products is that they come with more cup holders than the number of passengers who could possibly fit in the car (outside clowns).

When I’ve had cause to rent a car, the GM products always fell far short when it comes to quality. GM trucks are another business sector and far more competitive.

Happy Nomad on August 2, 2014 at 5:54 PM

I remember a time when it was hard to find a rental from the big three or four renters that was not an American car. That has changed very significantly.

“..the federal government ended up as a majority owner of GM stock for a few years under the Bush and Obama administrations —”

Although the government made a bridge loan in late 2008, it never owned GM stock in the Bush administration. That happened with the corrupt bankruptcy in 2009 during Obama’s first term.

That said, the problems were occurring for years and the NHTSA failed under both administrations. The problems were known prior to the bankruptcy but were hidden by GM and apparently ignored by the government watchdog agencies.

Yes, exactly. The rental place I dealt with is a small, family-owned franchise and one of the workers once told me that he’d drive any car as long as it was an American one. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes at him. He was a young kid — 20-something — and I couldn’t help thinking that he was probably lost in what his dad and other older people told him about how great American cars once were. The key word is, of course, once.

Wow, this is pretty terrifying. I rented Cobalts numerous times during this period. I thought the problem was people with large, heavy keychains that pulled the ignition switch off while they were driving. Rental car keys are single keys on a plastic chain. If those rental Cobalts had ignition switches that failed, it was definitely a bigger problem than we have been led to believe.

It should also be noted that in addition to these cover-up shenanigans, the only reason GM had such banner years during Obama’s first term is almost entirely due to Government fleet purchases.
Rusty Nail on August 2, 2014 at 4:42 PM

The thought of government bureaucrats having to drive GM clattledeathtraps seems somehow… fitting.

What I want to know is this: Who are the braniacs at GM who decided it was a good idea to redesign an ignition switch? Millions and millions of perfectly functioning ignition switches were put into cars for years and years. GM used the same switch for seemingly eons. We are talking about a very simple design with a small cam and interference spring that applies tension when in the ‘run’ position.

But like all good designers, they sit around a table and think “Hey, this switch has been working perfectly for 30 years but I can make it better.”

What is it about this dang wantedlifestyle.com popup that can’t be deleted.

amr on August 2, 2014 at 4:40 PM

Is that the autorunning ad that has no mute button? Hot Air, please do not run these ads. I keep a browser tab open to Hot Air at all times and I do not appreciate blaring ads going off every few minutes while I am doing something else. Show a little more class.